Thursday, February 14, 2013

A red pen, some chalk, and A LIBRARY?!

I never really understood what the life of a teacher was
like. I’m only teaching two days a week
and my mind revolves around these students.
I find myself making lesson plans in the shower, going through names in
my head at night, and thinking about crafts I could make when I finish my
peanut butter and have only the jar left.
But, today I didn’t even need those plans! Valentine’s Day is so big in Africa that
everything in the schools revolves around it.
I walked in, all the kids were dressed in red and white, and Mr. Gaji
had a Valentine’s Day poem with questions for the 8th and 9th
grade classes. He also had cards for the
5th graders to make their parents, so my job was very easy!! The entire day consisted of writing definitions
and directions on the board (chalk) and correcting about 200 worksheets (red
pen).

This morning, before I was dropped off, Pearnel told me that
a previous Marquette student had found a library at Hlengisa. He told me to be very inquisitive today
because something was going on there….so that’s exactly what I did!! When I got there, I asked if they had a
library. When I learned it was true, the
most information I could collect was that it was not organized and they had no
one to manage it. This library is a
colorful building in the back left corner of the school grounds. The doors are bright blue with murals of
children and books painted all over the outside. I texted Pearnel that I had found it and he
replied “they don’t use it. It’s so
wrong, kick some butt!” I can’t describe
how upset I would be if I knew my child was attending a school with a great
sized library that was locked and never used.

When I asked if I could go in, they were a little confused
but agreed to let me. They searched for
the key and finally came out with a huge ring and said “maybe it’s on here.” As we
walked up to the doors of this building, I had goose bumps all over my skin and
butterflies in my stomach. I don’t even
really enjoy reading (thus the math major) but I can’t describe the excitement I
had for this library. It just doesn’t
make sense to me that while most schools in this township are struggling to get
books just in the classrooms, this building is full of books that the children
can’t use. We got to the doors and after
trying many different keys, none of them worked. I encouraged him to keep looking for the key
while I began my 6th grade reading club in a classroom.

I brought 4 Harry Potter books to begin a reading club with
40 6th graders today. They
told me some of them had seen the movie and were interested in reading the
book. We got through about 3 pages after a half hour. Although I’m sure the story is going over
some of the students’ heads, some were really enjoying it and were able to
summarize what was happening. It went
better than I had imagined!

In other news, K-House is celebrating Valentine’s Day all
together here in South Africa! We picked
names out of a hat and that is our Valentine for the day. When I woke up, I had a letter and puppy chow
outside my door from the beautiful Lizzy Owens!
Everyone is in such a wonderful mood and we are all showering each other
with love—so many smiles!

I’m still in awe of how well this house gets along. We are all still so excited to hear about
everyone’s days when we get home. Little
KHouse update: Today Jamie and Rob got a
tour of one of the townships they will be working in and were able to go inside
some of the shacks (which I thought was awesome). They are working at “Lotus” which is right in
the townships and our entire house will be visiting this site together. Others are slowly getting projects and being
invited to meetings at their respective sites, so it’s all coming together!!! We are still a bit thrown off by the wild
cows, horses, dogs, goats, and sheep we see on the side of the road…but the
mountains are becoming the norm. I
cannot believe how much we see on a daily basis—the beauty and the destruction
within the same blink. Shacks with the
gorgeous mountains in the background…definitely something to get used to.

All in all, things are really coming together and I have so
many ideas for my service site. Although
I cannot (or would never) demand things be done my way, I can’t wait to see
what I can do for them with my ideas.

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. The messages, snapchats, emails, and texts
are getting me through! You’re the
best! LOTS OF LOVE on Valentine’s Day
from South Africa! Miss you all!!